Agriculture committee  Yes, very well, thank you.

Agriculture committee  Good morning. It's a great pleasure for me to take part in this morning's meeting from Winnipeg. On behalf of Richardson International Limited, I'm truly grateful for the opportunity to appear before you to address an issue that is both critical and timely in Canadian agricult

Agriculture committee  As I said, in Canada, the advantage our technological, scientific and other capabilities give us are being threatened by sociopolitical pressure. To follow up on Mr. Casey's point, I would say that as a society we are willing to accept the use and application of science in a mul

Agriculture committee  There are two things I'd like to point out. First, at the government level, we have to make sure that the debates that take place are fact-based, and not based on anecdotes or fabrications. Secondly, regulation should be applied with scientific rigour.

Agriculture committee  I agree completely with the comments that were made. I would, however, like to add one other point, which is very important: we will only be able to invest in research or the development of new technologies on condition that we are certain that we respect scientific requirements

Agriculture committee  From a regulatory standpoint, you mentioned the CFIA. In our industry, we have the CFIA, the Canadian Grain Commission and Health Canada that are all regulating at different times and oftentimes, possibly too often, overlapping in their regulation and involvement in the industry.

Agriculture committee  I agree totally with Mr. Casey. It's impossible to be mistaken if the regulation rests on recognized scientific principles. However, as soon as there is any subjectivity or viewpoints that are not science-based, to what extent can you regulate? If we really want investment in re

Agriculture committee  The fact of being on a whole new battlefield makes things difficult. It is difficult to defend yourself in the world of social media, where a simple sentence from a television or film star recorded in a sound clip can have a lot of influence. We would like to reply to it by prese

Agriculture committee  We're not in the development of products per se. We are a retailer of those products to our farm customers, so I guess we have a frontline view of how producers use those products. We offer agronomic services as well, to assist producers in the development of their crops. The p

Agriculture committee  I couldn't agree more.

Agriculture committee  I think what we've seen and what this issue has highlighted is the importance of focusing on the damage that can be created by non-tariff trade barriers. The uncertainty it presents puts a tremendous chill on the industry. This is a business sector that is fraught with weather-

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and members of the standing committee. My name is Jean-Marc Ruest, and I am senior vice-president of corporate affairs and general counsel for Richardson International Limited. I thank you for inviting our company and me to give you our perspecti

International Trade committee  I was simply going to say that you've identified ongoing issues that Canadian exports are facing around the world and that all have sanitary and phytosanitary issues as the root issue that's being put forward to prevent trade from happening. In the case of Italy, it's a complaint

International Trade committee  With respect to trade deals, we need to have very strong language that commits the signatory parties to respect science and science-based results, proper testing protocols, etc., and in the event of dispute, we need to have a very quick mechanism to resolve these scientific issue

International Trade committee  For the resolution on the technical side of things, I think one of the key components that's required is a willing partner to have a discussion with and with whom to exchange information. That requires confirmation of engagement and engagement in good faith. I think that means, a